Painted
by Threaded Needles
Summary: Slight AU! Artemis has always found comfort by watching Kid Flash on the news (her idol!), but when she's forced to go to High School, she's got to find a way to get around the embarrassing secret that she has a crush on the superhero on News33. But then again, with her Science Partner's Ex-Girlfriend sending death notes and the Football star taken, what's she's supposed to do?
1. Prolouge

_Painted-_

_By: Threaded Needles_

You'd think school would eventually get better, right? They'd throw out all the fucking boring useless teachers and put in the one's that actually gave a fuck about what they were doing and didn't just hand out F's to those that they hated.

Unfortunately, school just stayed the same, with all the fucktards, all the Justin Bieber fan girls, and the hopeless romantic's, the nerds, the drama queens, the hippie hopefuls... Damn, school just needed a full blown make-over didn't it?

Of course, she took school full on, opening her arms for the full hit, making sure that she got the full taste of pain and fail. You only live once, right, why waste it?

And school never got better, no matter how she looked at it. They still called Fire Drills in the middle of fucking winter, and during lock-downs made her sit next to the sweating-freak, her homework was nearly always late, earning a C- every time. Sometimes she wondered how she's ever get into college.

Of course, it doesn't help when the team's most preppy cheerleader fucking hates your guts, and her boyfriend is the biggest heart-breaker around. Oh, and the freshman who refuses to leave you alone, working for the yearbook and a large camera swinging from his neck. Not to mention, the freak guy who sat int he back of her medical science class who was always looking at her.

Which, of course leads us to her little story that she has to get off her chest about how screwed up and strictly fucked up her mind is. So... where should we begin?

_September fourteenth-_

Obviously, here.


	2. Chapter 1

_Painted-_

_By: Threaded Needles_

**Artemis P.O.V.**

I was really hoping for a snowstorm. You know the kind, the really big one where you can barely see outside and it's blistering cold, so cold that you can't even be outside. The kind where they have to close school because it's so thick and wet that you can't walk to the edge of the property line and back.

Because, I just hate school. No matter the crap teacher's give you about it being the 'greatest thing' and how it will lead on how your life will be forever, and that everything will be laid out for you if you just _stay in school. _Well, I know that lie. My mother went to college for twelve years and she still managed to fuck her whole life up.

Even so, school was definitely the worse thing that could happen to you. It sucked the life out of you. I've heard of cops who went for like two years of middle school and probably knew better Algebra then my Pre-Calc teacher.

Worse still, it was the first day of school, September fourteenth, and I was going to a new public school where I knew nobody. Seriously, I have this weird fear that if I talk to people, let them in, I'm going to lose them, that they'll hate me and leave, forget about me forever.

And, that's why I dread school, there's always some really preppy fucker girl who is always trying to get into my business, smiling and talking fast like she's known me for nearly eighteen years. Or even those 'cool type' guys that slide right in, thinking that they're irresistible and the hottest thing around.

I knew that school was something to dread and that I should've just told my mother that I was actually dieing of breast cancer and just hadn't told her. She'd probably believe that too, that's the funny part.

The gate to the school is scary enough to make me wince and shrug away, make me never come back and just skip the whole year. Wish I could but Mom would probably beat me. I walk back and forth because I find it to be the healthiest form of exercise (well, according to the internet).

I opened the gate, it being cold to touch. The black gate was styled so that it wound into different shapes, mostly circles and spirals. The wake to the front of the school, the doors that would lead me to my locker and her classes. It had to be fifty feet away, and a two-minute walk, or a thirty second run.

Debating the freak hit I would take if I took the shorter of the two, I stared straight ahead, as if having a staring contest with my destiny. Finally, I decided the whispers of freak, geek, and eventually, whore were not worth it, and lurched forward towards the school.

I was stopped about half-way there by a freshman looking kid, a camera swinging from his neck, one hand outstretched as he gave me a cocky smile. "Say 'CHEESE'!"

I should've just beat him to a bloody fucking pulp while I had the chance. Instead, I did probably the worse possible thing. "Fuck. You."

He snaps a photo anyways. It ejects from the camera, blackened and he waves it around for a moment before looking at it closely. "Yup, yearbook." Then, proceeds to tuck it into his polo shirt.

I snap my eyes away from the odd scene of the little freak before entering the school. Inside it's dimly lit, and everywhere you look there's either a light blue locker or a door for a classroom. I set my bag down in the middle of the hallway, since it's already starting to get clogged and open up my schedule. Locker 564, section 42. Somehow I have the feeling that it's going to be on the opposite side of where I'm standing, the opposite of where all my classes are. Damn.

Fortunately enough, I'm wrong and it's pretty damn close to where I was standing, actually only a few feet away. For being a huge school I'm surprised that every locker doesn't have lock on it. So, I'm able to slide it right open and start dumping my shit in there.

I leave a green binder, several pencils, and a yellow notebook on the ground next to my locker so that I can just grab them and take them straight to first hour, which, surprisingly, is right next to my locker.

Now, let's get this straight, I've always hated science, being better at mathematics myself, but, it's especially bad when your walking into a Medical Science class. I almost passed out last year when we dissected frogs, and the year before that when we were testing for blood types.

Now, there was no turning back, I'd be lost in having to learn how to wrap ankles and calm people down while I'm trying to snap their neck back into place. Fuck, fuck, and triple fuck.

I enter the room, and it smells like anti-septic, just as I suspected and I wrinkle my nose in response. There's few kids inside besides me, a boy with short reddish hair that is writing at what looks like super-human speed into a notebook, and a few girls whom look a lot like cheerleaders. Great, time to commit suicide!

I set my books down on a table next to the boy that's writing, figuring that he won't bug me too badly and the teacher will probably move us all later on.

I look over the red-head's shoulder to see what he's writing. It's so complicated in mathematics and science that I can barely even see straight when I look it over. I pinch the bridge of my nose and squeeze my eyes close to attempt to fix the problem.

"Having fun?"

I snap my eyes back open to see the red head looking at me closely. He repeats the question, and I slide down into my chair. "Kinda. How's the Calculus?"

"Great. It's so fascinating, isn't it? How the world works... Oh, I'm sorry, I must have lost you!" He says, scribbling down furiously on the paper. More pictures and numbers showed up. Once again, I looked away.

He continuous with his work, now ignoring me, which I like. Five minutes pass and the bell rings and I have to stop myself from watching the steady rhythm of his muscles moving up and down as he wrote back and forth across the paper.

"Quiet class, quiet!" The teacher yells from the front of the room, handing a thick stack of papers to the front person in every row. "We will begin with a quick quiz. The quiz results will determine your partner in... 'crime' for the rest of the year. Oh, and I'm Mr. Slizz, nice to meet you all."

A few giggle or chuckle at his name, but mostly everybody focuses on the quiz. Who the fuck hands out a quiz on the first day of school? When the test finally reach me and the red-head, half the kid's have looks of suicide on their faces. Fuck.

The paper is constructed of several single sentence questions, a few math questions, and several what seemed like mystery questions.

The test was taken away from my hands before I could even finish the fifth one. Damnit. The teacher sat down and began grading right away, leaving us with free time. I just watched the kid next to me jot down answer after answer, never getting bored.

Ten minutes before the dismissal bell rings, the teacher hands back the tests. "Okay, lowest score, Artemis Crock, thirty-six percent-"

I groan, embarrassed and put my head into my hands, trying not to meet people's stares. "-and Wally West, one-hundred percent."

I look at the kid next to me, who is grinning like a fucking retard next to me, his pencil half way between two of his fingers. "I'm sure we'll get along swell!" He says, tapping my nose with his pointer finger.

For some unknown and bewildering fucking reason, it makes my heart swell.

_A.N. I'm so sorry if the first chapter sucks! Oh, and Wally is so a super-genius, it states so like fifty hundred different times, and if he's not then... I'm screwed. _

_Anyways, the idea is pretty based on Artemis hating school, and to a very much extent, except for she comes to love Wally, even though she still has a kiddie crush on Kid Flash that she has had forever. Until... she finds out that Flash is Wally. And then her and Wally's relationship begins to fall at the seams._

_~!Threaded Needles!~_


	3. Chapter 2

_Painted-_

_-Threaded Needles_

**Third Person P.O.V.**

Third Hour brought a lot of surprises. The first; she had the class with Wally (the redhead that she sat next to in first hour) which wasn't a _bad _surprise since he helped accumulate her friend factor to one, but at the same time, he seemed to always out-smart her so she felt extremely stupid when she was forced to sit next to him again when she was late to class.

The second; all the cheerleaders where in the class. A preppy girl named Meghan who seemed to be the leader with red-brown hair and an annoying and freckles and skinny arms and shit. And a girl named Jinx with cropped close pink hair, wearing a seriously ugly shade of purple (she really needed a fashion makeover), and a kind face. She sat behind Artemis and found it necessary to fling rubber bands and erasers at the back of her head.

Thirdly; There was this football star (Connor? Was that really his name?) who sat in the back next to the girl Meghan. Not that he wasn't cute, but she honestly felt like she could do better. He obviously had bricks for brains if he was dating a empty-headed girl like Meghan.

Finally, the class was Current Events. Also known as they got to watch News33, take notes, write a paper for homework about what they had seen that day and then hand it back. She was seriously psyched about that since News33 was the only News Channel that streamed the heroics of the superheros, the dynamic duos, the sidekicks, all that awesome stuff.

So, she got to watch her all-time favorite superhero (super-sidekick?) fight alongside the boy wonder. That in itself made her day.

Halfway through the video she got passed a note. Fearing the worst (or the best, depending on how you looked at it) she opened it, finding untidy scrawl from Wally.

_You like this superhero stuff? -W_

She grabbed her pen, and jotted down an answer fast and before then before the teacher could look up she passed it back to the red-head.

When he tossed it back she re-read her's before reading his.

_A- Yeah, I have since I was a little kid. I'm guessing your gonna laugh now, right? Everyone usually does._

_I'm not going to laugh. Actually that's kinda cool, cause I love them too :) -W_

She looked over towards him, and he made no mention that he was passing notes with her, watching the clip on that was being projected from the TV and making a few notes now and then.

_A- Seriously? Does anybody else like them in this school? Like is there a club? If I'd known that I'd gone to public school way before this._

She folded the paper after writing back, looked around and then handed back to Wally.

When he passed it back she opened it right away, not really caring at this point if the teacher cared.

_Sorry, no. My friend Dick likes them but he only comes to the public school to take pictures. As far as I know, most kids got over superheros when they were 9. How come you didn't? -W_

She frowned, trying to figure away around the question. She obviously couldn't just tell him, but at the same time, he'd proven to be very trustworthy.

_A- I dunno, I've always had this weird crush on Kid Flash (Once again, please don't laugh!) and I guess I've always hoped that maybe one day he'd notice me and you know- the kids fantasy- get married and live happily ever after with sixteen children._

He passed it back almost as soon as he read it.

_That's a lot of kids :/ -W_

She giggled to herself. Then looked over to him and smiled. He gave a half smile then went back to his notes causing her to frown.

So what if she had a crush on Kid Flash? Everyone had those weird things, and from what she understood, Wally was the ultimate definition of weird.

* * *

><p>Just before class ended Wally through her another note in his scribble that wrote:<p>

_Meet for lunch? -W_

She agreed, but only because he was the only one she had for a kinda-sorta friend. Or at least the only person that could tolerate her. When she looked around, there wasn't that much else to pick from for friends anyways, and this guy had picked her out, so he saved her a lot of trouble.

When the bell rang, she got up, gathered her things and dumped them in her bag. The teacher was out first, rushing to get to her meeting, followed by most of the cheerleaders, and then some guys and then Wally ("Don't forget about lunch Artemis! Meet you at your locker!").

Leaving her alone with Jinx. Not the best situation as thus far, Jinx did not like her. But despite everything, she seemed to be wrong.

"Hey, Artemis, right?" Jinx said in a kind tone.

"Uh, yeah." She replied.

Jinx smiled. "You really shouldn't mess with Wally. He's dangerous."

Artemis frowned, and Jinx continued her little spiel in an eerily quiet voice. "He'll never love you, never have time with you. You'll just be another toy like I was. He's got two sides Artemis, and you won't like the other one," she whispered into the blonde's ear.

And then, in one swift movement, picked up her things and walked out the door, causing Artemis's breath to finally circulate and out her body. She tooks several deep breaths before getting her things to leave for fourth hour.

_A.N. I'm so sorry guys! But it was bugging me that this went a completely different route then what I was hoping, so I decided to re-write it. Yay, more fanfics to update :D_

_And if you like this one, try my latest fanfic (Spitfire *winkwinknudgenudge*) :_

_Hold My Hand_

_-Threaded Needles_


	4. Chapter 4

**Artemis P.O.V**

Fourth Hour was mostly uneventful- aside from the fact that I once again had the class with Jinx. Yuck. She sat next to me this time rather than behind me, which gave her little opportunity to throw erasers and things at my head; however, when there's a will, there's a way.

I met a girl in that class, who called herself Zee, rather than Zatanna- her real name. I think it's because she's related to Zatara, but I'm not really certain, and I thought it'd be mean to ask. She's a sophomore, and she included me in that Wally is a senior and that Jinx too was a sophomore.

We found a way to be friends even though we sat halfway across the room, and when the teacher asked who we wanted to partner up with for our beginning-of-the-year project, we both raised our hands excitedly to be each other's.

When the bell rang, she asked me to sit with her at her table, but since I had no idea who she sat with or who her other friends were, so I told her that I was going to sit with Wally like he had asked me to earlier.

She understood and left without complaint, but gave me her number so I could text her in case I changed my mind. So, I put away my things from Fourth Hour, shut my locker, and found myself face-to-face with Wally.

"Hey," He said. I could tell her was obviously uneasy. Did it have something to do with being in the junior section for lockers?

I hand him my schedule, and dig around in my locker for a second for a notebook I need. And pencils, being as I've already lost six today. "Hi, sorry, we can go down to the cafeteria in a second," I say, dislodging said notebook.

"We have last period together," he states. I open my mouth to complain- why is he leafing through my class schedule? I grab it away from him and tuck it into my pocket, then turn back to my locker to grab more pencils.

The cafeteria consists of two parts- an inside and an outside. Nearly everyone uses the outside while it's still fairly warm and sunny. Wally and I take the inside though, because it's slightly warmer, less crowded, and, well, more private.

And let me tell you, he eats a _lot _of food. Like more than I do in an entire day. When I asked him about it, he simply told me that he was hungry, and he always ate like this. Surprise, surprise.

"So you're a senior?" I asked him calmly. He nodded in agreement, swallowed some water and then began talking.

"Yeah, finally last year of school, though it hasn't exactly started out the greatest." He sighed and then began to eat again.

Although it slightly disturbed me, it didn't stop me from asking him questions. "So, I was talking to Jinx-"

He coughed and spit a lot of water out of his mouth. He stopped eating for a few seconds. "Um, what about?"

"Well, not much except that she said something about not like getting too attached to you or something. Is that because you're a senior or is she just being a freak?"

He thinks thoughtfully for a few moments. "Well, I am busier as a senior, most definitely, but I highly doubt-as its Jinx- that she was talking about that."

We stopped talking about that for a while and talked about the usual normal things like favorite colors and foods (which I think he pretty much likes everything- how the hell is he so skinny?) and we even went in depth to talk about our families and he only told me about those he considered his family, his best friend Dick Greyson (and his girlfriend, Zee), some guy named Roy who left for college left for college last year. Apparently Connor and Meghan used to be part of his 'family' except they never got along the greatest anyways, so this year it was actually kind of a relief for them to not be talking much anymore.

I told him about my sister Jade, who is wandering around somewhere in college, and my mother who is wheel-chair ridden. I left out the part about my father, though.

At the end of lunch he throws away his plate- um, plates, and walks me back to my locker.

**X**

September turned into October fairly fast. Jinx still hates me and I occasionally find a note in my locker with a reminder to not get too close to Wally, even getting so far as to threatening to break my arm. Wally became my best friend, and he was the only one who understood the whole superhero-since-a-little-kid thing, even though he did occasionally tease me about it.

Zee was my girl-best-friend. She'd sit with me and Wally at lunch sometimes, and she'd come over to help with homework, or invite me to her house to spend the night on Friday's. She even set up a 'double date' so that I could meet her boyfriend, the Greyson guy, and he was super nice, a little talky, but nice.

Meghan and I are on okay basis. For a cheerleader she's not overly annoying, though her voice is a little gritty on the nerves. We were partners in Current Events for a project when Wally and Conner were out, and she was helpful- most of the time. The only downside was that she was friends with Jinx, so it was either she was nice or she was helping bounce erasers off the back of my head.

Although I'll admit- maybe not to anyone personally, more so to my diary- that Wally is kinda cute and I'm kinda sorta starting to like him more than just besties (which I'm sure everyone goes through), I have no heart's desire to actually become his girlfriend. For three reasons; One, Jinx would probably go from death notes to throwing chairs at me. Two, he's a senior, so he has better things to do besides take his girlfriend out for a date. Three, I don't want to start dating him and then find out I'm not actually in love-

Not that I love him.

Anyways, back to Third Hour, where me and Wally, as per usual, were passing notes back and forth. Jinx was gone (thank the Lord) and the News33 scenes we were watching were about some woman's kids dying in a fire.

_So, homecoming is coming up, are you going? –W_

_I dunno, maybe. I don't wanna go alone, but I don't want to not show up either though…._

_You wanna go with me? –W_

_Of course. _

_A.N. Computer broke :'( Updating will be hard, but not impossible. _

_I hope you all like this chapter! _


	5. Chapter 5

**Artemis P.O.V.**

Homecoming was a week away. Okay, left me time, right? Wrong. Firstly my mother was zero help, being as she was disabled, she refused to drive me anywhere, and when she did agree, refused to stick around help with my dress shopping.

That of course was the least of my worries. What about hair and makeup? And accessories? Eventually I sucked it up and called my sister, hoping that by miracles of miracles she didn't have class and could help me. Luckily enough, she agreed and told me to meet with her at the store.

The next day, after school (which has become hectic because me and Wally are working on a project together in Medical Science which is all-time consuming) I walk straight to the store, Zee tailing after me. When I finally turn around and ask her about it, she says she needs to pick out a dress to; therefore it's good that we should go together.

I really don't want to tell Zee to leave me alone- even if this is the only sisterly activity me and Jade have had in over two years- but I do, and she understands, saying she actually does need to get a dress, and I won't even know she's there.

When I get to the store, I spot Jade's mess of black hair sitting in a cozy chair surrounded by dresses. She's talking to a store clerk, who is attempting to not leave her in peace. Not a good thing.

"Jade?" I ask, stepping forward a few feet into the room. She turns toward me, a small smile on her face.

"Artemis! How good to see you. So who's this boy who's taking you to Homecoming? I _must _meet him."

Listening to her talk is fabulous. I love the way she talks, like everything is a joke and sarcastic. I walk around the chair so I can face her, and gasp, slightly too mostly surprised.

"Congrats," I manage. Her stomach is just beginning to swell, a beginning stage for a pregnant woman. For Jade.

She giggles. "I'd love to tell you _all _about it, but we're supposed to be finding a dress so you can look absolutely fabulous at Homecoming."

I get to feel like a girl for once, like an actual girly-girl, without feeling stupid. I can veto a dress without the manager or Jade getting frustrated. I can comment on dresses, say I like this and this without feeling silly, and Jade will make the occasional comment like "Definitely makes you look skinnier than that _last _one."

Eventually we find what the general idea is of what we're looking for. Something green, Jade suggested a heavier colored one, and simple. The dress we finally all agree on (Zee finally coming over to watch as well) was a short dark green dress. It was comfortable, and had different types of looking fabric added at the bottom to make it look enormously unique.

When I got home (Jade in tow, as she claimed her boyfriend was probably working on homework and she had no desire to bug him) my mother declared the dress beautiful, and slipped a beautiful necklace in my hand. It had a green emerald in the middle, trapped by criss-crossing of silver.

So, hair and accessories- check. Which left hair and make-up still a dilemma. I made dinner, the only thing I can make, pancakes, without Jade's help as to prove to her I can be a good little sister. I make them with blueberries, set the table, pour milk, and get the syrup. It takes the all of forty- five minutes.

She eats it, claims it's good and takes over the duty of cleaning up since I cooked. Even though it's good to have Jade back- at seven she calls her boyfriend to pick her up and leaves with a short wave.

The rest of the week passes quickly, me and Zatanna make plans about getting to the dance and meeting up with Wally and Dick (he agreed to go to her homecoming rather than his fancy private school one, isn't that sweet?) and about our hair and make-up and dresses. I almost completely forgot- I needed shoes.

I go over to Zee's after school, where I've left my dress and my make-up. We will be there for a while and then we'll go to the dance together. Since the dance doesn't start for three hours, we laze about for a good hour, watching TV and eating popcorn. She barely touches the stuff though, because she had her nails done.

I switch it the news channel after we slip into our dresses. Hers is a magnificent lilac and lavender purple combination, and I immediately feel jealous.

While I do Zee's make-up, the news covers the weather, which is a downpour of rain and a thunderstorm, which can be heard outside. I sigh, okay; we need new arrangements to get to Homecoming. I go back to watching the News channel.

They turn on my favorite group of superheroes- the teenagers, like me and Zee- that has Kid Flash. It shows them taking out a dangerous group of hijackers who were trying to transport something called Amazo.

It's so cool to see them working together. Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin, Miss Martian, Superboy and Zata-

I look over at Zee. She's twirling her fingers. I mentally kick myself. Of course she's Zatanna, her name is exactly the same, plus the figure, the hair and… well, everything about her!

I go to open my mouth but she slaps a palm and five fingers over it. "Don't say a word, the Team's disbanding at the end of the year anyways, so my popularity in that field is going to drop."

Wait, disbanding? Why? Why would they disband? "Zee, why would you guys disband? You're flipping awesome!"

"Because," she says, now working on my make-up. "Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Superboy, and Aqualad will be graduating school at the end of the year, and trust me, once you get past a certain age, I'm sure you want to stop hanging onto some silly 'superhero' life."


	6. Chapter 6

**Third POV**

Half an hour later, Zatanna and Artemis were at the dance. Somehow- though Artemis had a pretty good feeling as to how- the rain abruptly stopped, and the puddles evaporated. The whole thought of Zatanna being a hero made her jealous- maybe she wanted to be a hero too! But the thought was short lived as she couldn't think of anything she was good at; shoot some arrows?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Dick and Wally entered the darkened gymnasium, sudden strobe light lighting up the entire area. "Dick!" Zatanna yelled, running towards him like he was a hallucination about to disappear in the desert heat. She hugged him around his neck and they kissed.

I followed in a more subtle manner, and when I reached Wally only took his right hand and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Subtle, awkward, and so totally… us.

"You wanna dance, baby girl?" Dick asked Zee, giving a small smirk as a slow song started up. She gave a quick giggle and allowed herself to be led out to the dance floor by her boyfriend.

Wally held out his hand to Artemis. "No, bad jokes," he promised as she hesitated. She slipped her thin hand into his and he led her behind the bleachers. It was empty, but completely clean.

He rubbed his head. "So, want to talk? Since it'd be seriously weird if we did anything else."

She smiled. "Yeah, sure. What about?"

"How about we each tell each other a secret?"

"Oh, so it's escalated to that now?" Artemis asked, raising an eyebrow.

He nodded, and then sat down; she followed in suite, and slid down the cool wall. "You first then, Baywatch."

He tapped a finger to his chin. "I used to go out with Jinx."

"I was not expecting that one. Explain." Artemis said, first feeling the effects of being denied, then of giddiness that meant obviously she was triumphing where Jinx had failed.

He did; how him and Jinx had been good friends growing up, and when she was in fifth grade, decided to have their first kiss together, and then in seventh how she had developed a crush on him and told everyone, so it was a huge rumor and everyone would think he was a dick if he didn't go out with her, so he was pitied into a three month relationship that ended on the wrong note.

"She got angry because I there was a secret that I had never told anybody, and she said because she was my girlfriend, she needed to know, and when I didn't tell her, she got mad and severed our relationship. This wasn't much of a relationship anyways."

Artemis sighed contently and snuggled up against Wally's arm, and he wrapped it around her. Not so awkward. "So what was that secret?"

"Ah, did you think I forgot about you? It's your turn."

Artemis sighed. "Hm…. My sister is pregnant."

"Jade?" Wally asked, and then shut his mouth. "I'm friends with Roy, he left High School to go to college last year, and he's the father."

"Well, it counts, so, your turn." She mocked, and he tied his shoes.

He pulled the laces on his shoes then thought a moment. "I don't really have another one. Well, not one that I can tell you."

"Why can't you tell me?"

"How do I know you're going to keep it? Or not use it to blackmail me? Consider it a while and I'll think about telling you later on."

I thought about it a minute and he was right, what would I even do with that information? We exited behind the bleachers just as the dance was wrapping up, and Zee and Dick were found in a corner kissing/cuddling/talking.

**November**

November was Wally's birth month. Though he didn't tell me, a little birdy did- cough Zee cough- and I made preparations to decorate his locker (inside and out), to get him a present, and bake him a cake… or two.

But since his birthday wasn't until the eleventh, I had time for the first and last thing. His present- which I couldn't think of anything for the longest of time- was a nice pair of black gloves, which were actually really expensive for being gloves. I thought it was kinda lame until Zee brought up that he'll love it because he never has coat or gloves or whatever. So, it made me feel important.

The first day of November we were given an assignment- a project really- in Medical Science which involved having to chart the different types of blood types and how they affect, and their uses and all this other stuff.

So, of course, by default- my unfortunate fail grade on the very first quiz- resulted in me being partners with Wally.

The first task was pricking both of our fingers and seeing which blood type we were. So, shiny metal lance was given to us, as was a disinfected cloth and a small little plastic card that we rubbed the blood on and it turned a different color to show which blood type we were. Fantastic.

Wally, obviously had no problem with this, and rolled up his sleeve to his elbow- revealing a variety of colorful bruises dotting his arm- and let me prick him. The blood welled up immediately, and to remain from vomiting, I handed him the card so that he could smear on the crimson liquid himself.

"A bit squeamish?" he asked.

"You have no idea." I answered. "Can we just do my finger?"

"Think you can get enough blood out of it?" he asks, making me roll up the sleeve to my green long-sleeve. He wiped it down with the disinfect wipe and then pricked the vein. It hurt for all of five seconds, and then the blood rolled down the crook of my elbow.

He blotted the blood onto the card, and we waited for the colors to change to see the blood type.

His changed first- and it read that he was a B positive, and when my showed up, I was O negative.

"Great, we can start now."

"Yippie."


	7. Chapter 7

November continued with frequent visits from Jade, as if she just expected me to one day bring home Wally. I told her that he might come over for his birthday, rather than stay home because of some sort of family/home problem.

So, she cleared her day for November eleventh just so she could meet him.

On the day of Wally's birthday, I met him at his locker. I even went to school early so I could get their before he did. I gave him the gloves, which he thanked me for (I didn't really make an attempt to wrap them).

"You are coming over to my house tonight, right?" I ask, nudging him as he pulls his things out of his locker. His knuckles look fairly bloody, ripped open and raw. I raise an eyebrow.

He nods, "As long as I don't get called in…."

"Where?" I ask confused.

We're at the door to Medical Science, and he shakes off the question, and sits down. I sit down next to him, pulling out my book and flipping to the page it has written in black ink on the board. The chapter is about treating injuries, and from the looks of it, Wally could use a few Band-Aid's.

It's extremely silent since we're the only ones in the classroom, and even the teacher isn't there. (He says he leaves it open because he's usually late and doesn't want to make us late, and we should know how to control ourselves in a classroom without a teacher by now).

He does his work, and I watch him do his work. Simple as that.

The day continues, and Wally doesn't just disappear magically, or run away from campus at lunch, so I'm left to assume that he's still coming to my house after school. This will please Jade.

Last hour is P.E., which prompts Jinx (who got transferred into that class last week) to throw dodge balls at my head. I don't even know how she hits, since I can barely throw mine across the room. Wally soothes me by saying that Jinx is just that special.

Yeah, soothing.

At the end of the period, I catch up to him. "You're still coming over?"

"Yeah, should be fine," he says. I text Jade that he'll be there, and in response she sends; _Cool, I'm coming by with Roy to pick you guys up. Don't want your boy-toy getting wet in the rain ;)_

I cover it up quickly before Wally decides he needs to be a little snoop and check out what I'm doing on my phone. After getting his stuff from his locker, we go to mine, and he carries my things, and then I direct him to go outside, where it is pouring buckets of rain.

_Where are you? _I text to my sister, then put my phone back in my hoodie pocket. I glance, and Wally is wearing the gloves I got him, but they'll be little help in this downpour.

She buzzes back a few seconds later. _Left side, near the Geometry room. Black Car._

So, me and Wally are forced to relocate, which involves going back inside, and struggling against a bunch of obnoxious and tattle-tell sophomores and freshman. And yes, I can say rude things about them, because I have been home-schooled up to this point.

The geometry room is a bright explosion of vivid cut-out numbers and equations, lame poster with slogans for math, and desks all jumbled together. The teacher in there is a sweet woman, but has quite the temper. Wally waves to her as we use the exit in the classroom. "Hi, Mrs. Queen."

Upon exiting, we find a black car (like I'm going to know car names?), rolled up almost entirely onto the sidewalk. "Your sister has bad driving skills," Wally comments, as he ventures out into the rain.

"She's pregnant?" I offer.

Inside the car, it's warm and toasty. Surprisingly enough, my sister isn't driving, instead is drawing cat faces in the window against the condensation. She adds whiskers to the triangle nose while I peer over the seat to see a man with reddish-orange hair, wearing sunglasses (like he'll need those- it's raining).

"He-ey Roy!" Wally says. I can only assume this is the boyfriend that Jade was talking about and friend who left for college last year. He and 'Roy' do a high-five.

Since I don't know the guy, I just sit there, trying to clear my face of wet hair strings out of my face, and come to the conclusion on whether or not this guy can be trusted. I mean, _he got my sister pregnant._

Jade seems to sense my uncomfortableness. "Artemis, this is Roy. Roy, this is Artemis, my younger sister."

Since I got a title, and he didn't, I feel superior, and go ahead and introduce Wally, while Jade smirks like a freaking Cheshire.

Roy drives hazardly. He takes a sharp turn to the left when he realizes that he missed the road, almost runs us into a stop sign and is going about seventy-five miles an hour. I tell Jade when we get out that he should have been a nascar driver, and that I'm surprised they didn't get caught by the police on the way to the school.

Jade smiles, pats my shoulder, and goes off towards the Apartment, and opens the door. Then we all cram into the elevator (which is playing some classical Beethoven) and then stumble out onto our floor. I unlock it, and let them in. Perfectly clean, normal home. A little cramp now that all the people are in it, but still average sized.

"So, I'll cook dinner-" Jade starts, until she's cut off by me, Wally and Roy.

"I'll do it," I say.

"You don't have to." Wally.

"Don't put excess stress on yourself." Roy.

She smiles, then nods her head and goes to sit down on our old couch. I wonder vaguely if she never intended to cook, but this was her plan the whole time, to lounge around without us getting after her and feeling bad.

Either way….

_A.N. FINALLY UPDATED! :D _

_Geez, stupid computer being broke and seniors taking the school ones :'(_


	8. EPILOGUE

_A.N. Alright guys, I have something really important to tell you- as in, devastingly, evil, your-going-to-hate-me-forever important._

_I have writers block big time with this story. Every time I get an idea, and go to write it down, it comes out sounding stupid and I can't get past like 500 words. Some of you may just be like 'oh, well five hundred word chapters are fine' but it's like a huge hole carved into me._

_So, I'm skipping right to the Epilogue. _

…_. And now you hate me._

_This is what was supposed to happen during the story:_

_-Zee and Dick break up after she finds him kissing Barbara behind the school (which is actually just a misunderstanding)_

_-Lian wasborn._

_-Wally graduates_

_-Artemis is given the chance to graduate early with Wally because her GPA is so high. She refuses._

_-Zee and Dick get back together, after everything is cleared up between them._

_-The Young Justice Team has broken up._

_-Artemis and Wally are now dating._

**Painted (FINALE)**

"You're what?" I ask, trying to suppress a laugh that's bubbling up in my throat. Three months since I've last seen him. Both our schedules are too different, with him gone half the evening in Physics and Calculus 3, and me in school during the day.

And not to mention _exams._

Somehow Physics was canceled (they were supposed be doing something outside, and since it's hailing…) and his Calculus class he finished in like twenty minutes when all he did was take a quiz and then leave.

"I'm not going to repeat it, it's crowded in here." He mumbled, shrugging off his jacket. We're in dance club- one of those really flashy mobby places, but we're supposed to be going on a double date with Zatanna and Dick, so I thought it'd be mean if we said no.

"I like you better when your just texting me," I say back to him, adjusting my foot in my flats. I hate Zee, eternally, for the damn outfits she always picks out for me. "Is this the big freaking secret that you told me about last year at homecoming?"

"You still remember that? But, yes."

"And you want me to believe that you wear-"

"Used to."

"Used to wear yellow and red spandex as a superhero."

"Indeed."

"You are the last person I would have thought to be a hero. Especially one that wears _spandex_."

He shrugs.

I eye him, carefully. "At least you look hot in it," I say. He laughs.

"Right, I forgot that you had a _crush_ on the same person, and yet _didn't_ know it."

"Shut it, west," I mutter, holding my arm up to give a high five to Zee, who's entering the club, wearing three inch heels.

_A.N. Ah, endings! Anyways, this is done, because I'm tired of it not being done. If you want another School-Young Justice story, I have out my story Cliché, which is completely AU, no one in that is a Superhero. _


End file.
